Last March all members received a request to complete a survey. The purpose of the survey was to obtain members’ view on how FMAC meets professional and personal needs. While the response rate of 15% was lower than we hoped, it is considered a good response rate by survey standards.
The key finds of the survey were the following:

• 80% see value in the ACI courses, however, only 30% were aware that discounts to study materials are available to FMAC members through Resource City.
• 67% indicated that FMAC events, both social and business, are an important benefit of being a member.
• 50% make use of the FMAC Web site.
• Social and business events, followed by the newsletter, and The Model Code were identified as providing the greatest value to your membership in FMAC.
• There is a perception that prestige of the organization is declining.
• A desire for more education was expressed.

Your volunteer Board of Directors strives to make sure that FMAC evolves with the times and maintains its relevancy to all members and to be of interest to the wholesale financial community at large. Directors meet regularly to discuss and plan the direction for FMAC. So what are we going to do with these results? Over the next six months we will strive to respond to the areas of interest expressed in the survey in the following manner:

1. We will continue to bring you social and business events. However, the business events will have a greater focus on industry specific interests and professional development.
2. We will bring you more information on ACI courses and other educational interests, and make it easier to find.
3. The web site will be up to date and provide more information on upcoming events as well as current industry news.
4. To increase membership we will be launching a membership drive in September. Last year membership was expanded to include additional functional areas within institutions dealing rooms, such as risk management and operations.
5. We will continue to work with similar organizations to bring you a greater variety of events and more networking opportunities that are closely related to the wholesale markets community.

These initiatives, new and ongoing, are dependent on the contributions made by volunteers. The time commitment can be as little as one hour to several hours each month. We encourage you to participate in any way you can to help continue the relevancy of your association and the strength of the community.